ARTILLERY SERVICE UNDER “JOHN COMPANY .” 
19 
after them which he christened the “ mess flock,” and on the strength 
of this, certified that a mess had been maintained, and drew the allow¬ 
ance accordingly. All went well for six months, when he had a 
quarrel with one of his captains named Rawlins, who promptly sub¬ 
mitted charges against him for signing false certificates. Colonel 
Dun das was tried by court-martial, but although the facts were not 
denied, the Court honourably acquitted him, on the ground that 
the establishment of the flock of sheep, so clearly showed that he in¬ 
tended to have a mess some day, that he was fully justified in certify¬ 
ing that one was actually maintained. The Commander-in-Chief in 
a long minute on the Proceedings, sarcastically commented as fol¬ 
lows :—“It is not desirable in an address to the army to verge on the 
“ ridiculous ; yet it is impossible to avoid hinting, how far the latitude 
“ of interpretation which the Court has given, might be carried, and 
“it may be quite reasonable to ask, whether, if the keeping of a flock 
“ of sheep constitutes the f maintaining of a mess 3 the keeping of 
“ a flock of poultry—which flock might be composed of any plural 
“ number—would not afford an equally sound basis for the argument 
“ they have admitted ? Can officers think that such perversion of 
“ common terms, used in general orders, can be allowed through all 
“ ranks of the army ? or can they think that the service can be carried 
“ on, if such latitude is sanctioned for everybody V 3 
These remarks do not appear to have been taken in good part by 
the army, who seized on the unfortunate statement, that any plural 
number constituted a flock, and for a long time afterwards wrote in 
the newspapers of a brace of partridges as “a flock of partridges/’ 
and even of a double sentry, as a “flock of sentries”. 
1842 The nex t change in the Regiment was the addition in March, 
1842, of one company to each battalion of the European 
Artillery, by reducing the strength of the other four by one-fifth, thus 
causing no difference in the numerical strength of the whole. Under 
the new organization the establishment of a company was :— one staff- 
sergeant, four sergeants, four corporals, eight bombardiers, two buglers 
and sixty-four gunners, with officers as before. 
1843 1^43, the attention of the supreme Government was di¬ 
rected to a new quarter, and the progress of events in 
Gwalior was watched with considerable interest. Since the death 
of the Maharajah Junkoyah Rao Scindia, anarchy and confusion had 
reigned supreme in the Maharatta capital, and its hostility to the 
British was becoming more and more pronounced. A diplomatic set¬ 
tlement of affairs appeared difficult, if not impossible ; so in November, 
Lord Ellenborough determined to assemble a force on the banks of 
the Jumna. This force (which was about 14,000 strong), was called 
the “Army of Exercise,” and was under the personal command of the 
Commander-in-Chief, Sir Hugh Gough, Colonel J. Tennant being ap¬ 
pointed to command the Artillery with the rank of Brigadier-General. 
Hostilities broke out on the 29th December and from then until the 
beginning of 1850, the Bengal Artillery were almost continuously on 
active service and saw a great deal of hard fighting at Maharajpur, 
